Busyness is no badge of honor, friend
Pssst, fellow to-do list crusher…
We assume that in order to be productive, we must fill our schedule, our days, our minds with “things”. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
#Heyachiever, you need margin 📏 in order to grow.
That means you must make SPACE to think and process and create brilliant things. Space is a gift and busyness comes to rob you of great things. The urgent tries relentlessly to squeeze out what’s important. But, friend, living from one fire to the next is SO overrated! Busyness 🏃🏽♀️ feeds off of an inward focus and limits our ability to see what’s around us.
You’ve spent time enough filling yourself with every to-do list, hobby, and bit of noise. It’s time to embrace a new season where you instead make space so that you’re ready to see and embrace what is yet to come.
Want to do great things? Leave yourself white space. Pull back to go forward. Don’t fall for a life of urgent things. Great things are yet to be created when you make space. Here are four areas you may need to create space:
Your Closest Relationships. We can be quite stingy to those closest to us. Why? Becuase the ones who loves us the most are also often the most forgiving. But that’s some funny math. Your closest relationships do not want to stand idly by as everything and everyone grabs your attention. Instead, make space for the ones you love. Have the extra conversation even though you have to go, look them in the eye, give them your full attention. Show your closest relationships they matter the most.
Your Schedule. Do you find yourself running from meeting to meeting or project to project? Better phrased, do you leave yourself to do the work that you are needing to do? Ofte we thing of work hours as a primary culprit for a packed schedule but the truth is that, given a choice, we take the same tendancies into our personal lives as well. Can someone say restful weekend turned nightmare as we collectively shuffle between sports, meetups, housecare, side hustles, shopping and so much more? Somehow we convince ourselves that when we are not busy, we are not productive. Not true! Be in the habit of saying no to every request for your schedule and time even when there are no existing conflicts. If it’s helpful find times to schedule white space, thinking times, curiosity weekends, and taking technology blackouts.
Your Thought Life. Earlier this year I was supposed to be resting after a medical procedure. Instead, I was dreaming, inventing, learning, challenging my brian. Doing everything but resting. Can you relate? One of the sneakiest ways to be busy is in your thought life, mainly because it’s private. Let your mind be at rest and giving it space to wander in curiosity will allow you to evoke your creative juices.
Rest. Achievers push until the job is done, but the truth is that resting is one of the greatest gifts for creation. Your drive to complete is unparalleled. Rest well and you will have the stamina you need for those powerful pushes.
Achiever is the most common talent in the top 5 CliftonStrengths profile. That means you are not alone in learning to get focused results and enjoy the ride. Who relates to the Achiever talent from Clifton Strengths?🙋🏽♀️ How are you making space that you need to thrive?If you’re just getting started in CliftonStrengths (Strengthsfinder) and have never taken the assessment or have not gone over your results with a coach, start with the Strengths Deep Dive here.
Until next time,